Lucky Day Giveaway

A couple of weeks ago I attempted to attend the online Craftcast presentation called “More I Love Tools”. It was live demonstrations by several artists and the subject was their favorite tools for jewelry making. I could never get the audio to work on my laptop or on my iPad, so I had to leave the class. I was so disappointed! The next morning I get an email from my friend Molli Koltun that I had won a prize during the presentation the night before! Oh boy! How lucky am I? Actually, I was very lucky that day and I should have bought a lottery ticket. In my mail I found an envelope from the North Carolina Department of Revenue and I thought for sure I was being audited. No! There was a check for $100 because somebody (either me or my accountant) made an error on my 2011 tax return. But, I digress… where was I? Oh, yeah, I won something. So I emailed Alison Lee, the brains behind the Craftcast presentations, and told her about my sound issues and that I wasn’t able to attend the live broadcast. In order not to spoil the surprise she only told me that I’d won something during Wanaree Tanner’s presentation and that I could watch a video of the entire presentation shortly.

I’m not good at being patient, but I finally got to watch the 5-part series on YouTube. Wanaree’s favorite tool is the Silhouette Cameo machine (an electronic cutting tool) and she demonstrated how to use it to create a texture in Scratch Foam. This machine plugs in to your computer and usually uses a small blade to cut materials like paper or vinyl. Wanaree had an embossing tool in place of the cutter and that made the impressions in the Scratch Foam. Then she engraved some words directly into dry metal clay. Very cool!

Then she announced that I was the winner of the Silhouette Starter Guide and a collection of Wanaree’s bezel wire designs, a package worth $60! Wah, wha, wha…. I don’t have a Silhouette Cameo machine! And, as I look towards the end of my career and to retirement, I’m really not interested in investing in a high-dollar tool. Darn. But it was still an honor to have won!

The bezel wire designs also come with instructions on how to alter the patterns to fit your stones and a shrinkage and resizing chart. Here are some examples of the bezels:

This is where I actually get to the point of this post: I am re-gifting these items to one lucky winner!! If you have, or plan to purchase a Silhouette Cameo machine you should enter this contest. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling everyone what you love about this machine. Who knows, maybe I'll be convinced to buy one after all. The contest starts today and on Monday, October 15 I will select a random winner from all the entries. Good luck!

Hey!

I just want everyone to know that I haven't fallen off a cliff, or something. There just hasn't been much to blog about. But, I'm taking this opportunity now to give y'all some advance notice that there is a big give-away coming soon. Stay tuned. I'm working out the details right now.

The goldenrod is in full bloom, the Monarch butterflies are headed south, the hummingbirds have slowed way down and we had our first light frost this morning. I think it's about two weeks early, but I'm grateful for some cooler temperatures.

I'll post more about the give-away soon.

My Tumbler Loves Me!

I use a tumber to make my jewelry all clean and shiny. For those of you who don't know what a tumbler is, or how it works, it's a plastic barrel that rolls around on a motorized base. The barrel is filled with these little metal pieces called "shot" and when I put the jewelry in I cover everything with water and a little liquid soap. As the barrel rolls around the shot and the metal jewelry rub together and the shot makes the jewelry nice and shiny. It takes a minimum of an hour and it's a low-effort way to achieve a high shine on several pieces at once.

This is the tumbler barrel

Way back when I first got the tumbler I mistakenly bought carbon steel shot instead of stainless steel shot. (Carbon steel was cheaper and that's probably why.) Since carbon steel will rust I have to be careful to completely let it dry before I store it until next time. So when the tumbling is finished I dump the shot and the jewelry into a strainer and rinse it all off and pick out the shiny jewelry. Then I spread out the shot on a kitchen towel to dry:

Shot drying on a towel

When the shot is completely dry I scoop it to store it in the tumbler barrel. I pick up the edges of the towel to gather it together in the center and every time this is what I see:

It's a shot heart! I mean, a heart out of shot...

Every time! I don't mean to make a heart out of my tumbler shot. It's the Universe telling me that my tumbler loves me. It must be.

Smooth Sailing

I read my horoscope this morning and it said:

"Today you should have a very strong sense of well-being. Your inner self is functioning harmoniously, and you do not feel emotional turmoil or strife. You are not in the mood for adventures, challenges and major changes, nor is it necessary to be so."

Nice, huh? And it's true. There really hasn't been a lot on my mind, and definitely nothing that would put me in a mood like I was in a few weeks ago. I seem to be at the top of the wave right now, and it feels good.

I have been in the studio because it finally feels like what I want to do. I've just been moseying along doing what inspires me. Here's a few of the new things:

Three new pieces with the beautiful dichroic glass I got at the Gem Show last July.

This one has a lab ruby.

I'm going to try and do an Etsy Shop update this weekend. I've found some more studio stash that I'd like to get rid of and I'll list some new things, too. Maybe I'll list these four!

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone, and stay safe!

Working From Home

I read a Facebook status by Rice Freeman-Zachery this morning that reminded me that I wanted to write a post about this subject. She wrote:

"People think working at home alone means you don't have a schedule and can do anything at any time. Working home alone means you HAVE to have a schedule. No big deal. Getting other people to understand that is The Big Deal."

It's true that I do have some flexiblity in my schedule, but in order to get enough jewelry made I generally need to sit down in the studio by 9:00 in the morning, work through until lunch time, which is ususally between 1:00 and 2:00, and try to stop by 5:00. That's the plan in my head, anyway. It doesn't always work out like that.

There's always too many distractions. The phone rings. A lot. The laundry needs to be moved along, there's a housework chore to take care of, a neighbor stops by, the cat barfed on the carpet, oooh, look at that bird at the feeder and it needs to be filled... you get the picture. Because I not only work alone, I live alone. So all the stuff that other people have a spouse or partner or roommate to help out with, I do myself. Without a semi-firm schedule I'd bounce around and accomplish nothing.

I try to loosely schedule "studio time", "chore time", "paperwork and computer time" and "town time" each week so that I'm at least organized in that way. And four days a month working in the co-op galleries, too. (That's not really "town time", because it's hard to get out of the house early enough to run errands and at the end of the day I just want to get home.)

Then there's the problem of working all the time and never taking time off. There's certain parts of my work that are mindless tasks and get done in the evenings in front of the TV. Weekends, holidays... what are they? One day kind of runs into another and quite often I need to consult a calendar to know what day it is.

I think because my lifestyle is so different from most folks it's hard for them to understand that I really am working! I don't eat bon-bons and watch soaps all day. I have to do it ALL, and it annoys me when people say, in a derrogatory way, that I don't have a job. Or worse, tell me to get a REAL job! Is a the only "real" job one where I'd have to work away from home for someone else? Do they think what I do is just a hobby? Geez! Follow me around for a week and see what kind of job I have!

Perhaps if money was foremost in my mind, I might take on a second job, one away from home that pays well and has health benefits, but that's just not me. I've been there, done that, and found out I'm really not a good employee at all. I don't tow the line or follow rules very well. I question things. I think that's part of an artist's personality. Even though I don't make a lot of money, I love being independent and knowing that I'm the only one who will make decisions on how I live my life, even though that can be worrisome sometimes. And I've learned to live with what I have and not yearn for things that are unnecessary or are beyond my means.

So, rant over, I'll sign off now. Computer time is almost over and I haven't done my daily allotment of pinning on Pinterest yet. I'll be in the studio tomorrow morning!

My Version of a Luna Moth

It took me awhile, but I finally finished my rendition of a Luna Moth in fine silver. I decided to use plain white 3 mm cubic zirconias for the "eyes" since I didn't duplicate the beautiful green color of the moth and I wanted it to be as simple as possible. It measures 1.75 inches across the wings and I usually don't make pieces this large, but I had to be able to capture the detail of the wings as much as I could. I used Scratch Foam for the basic design and an xacto knife for the fine veins. Now all it needs is a chain.

Below is a picture of one of the two I saw last July. You can read about it here. I based my design on this photo.



Black Cat Appreciation Day

Cinder has been gone for almost 2 years. I think today is a good day to put his ashes on the flower garden because it was his favorite spot to catch mice and bugs.